Eight Two Strokes, 10 fours and a Shed Raid. EoMR February 2021

  Our February end of month ride has been and gone, but in its wake are some great inspirational memories of why we have a passion for these old bikes. Warren had generously offered to host an end of ride shed raid and share some of his wonderful heritage vehicles he has been collecting alongside others his father has passed down to him. The message went out and they came on the day with eighteen bikes lined up for the ride. The weather cooperated with a fine morning and with our ride a little shorter than usual a bit more time was spent with pre ride chatter. And there was plenty to see and talk about with some interesting machinery appearing.

It was great to see Roger from Levin bring along his recently rebuilt little Benelli 2C. They have a great reputation for sweet handling in a lightweight package and Roger has done a great job with the restoration. It was also nice to see another air cooled two stroke Yamaha out for a play with Mike from Feilding on his RD400. Mikes next door neighbour Dave was also out for a spin on his only running bike at the moment A 1949 Norton International. The Guzzi is waiting for electronic parts and the Honda 750 in need of a cam chain to get it back on the road. John, also another Feilding resident was out on his Aprilia RS250 and wonderful to see Ross out on his 1968 Suzuki Cobra in all its chrome and metallic paint glory. Kim had his Kawasaki H2a out for a run and good to see Dion on his Honda NS400R. Warren brought out his 'other' Walter Wulf, a Suzuki RG250 and Stuart was out on his sweet running Waterbus. Another VJMC Suzuki was Bruce on his GS 750. A really sweet running bike. 

Kerryn was on his Triumph Bonny and Ian was out on his Vmax and Rich on his Veestrom. Max had his Bandit out for a spin and Alan was on his Harley Sportster. Bruce A popped in to say hi and bye whilst on his way to trade in his BMW GS650 on his new adventure bike in Tauranga. We were soon on our way with a shorter ride called for to give some extended time at Warrens. Our one and only stop at the Raumai Bridge turn off proved to be a no go for Kim on his H2a. It proved to be a very reluctant starter with a total lack of sparks. Its last outing was to the South Island so definitely some sort of luck/fate involved.

 Our cafe stop was at the Fusion Cafe in Ashhurst with a pleasant time spent yarning in the sun, but we were soon on our way again to Warrens back in town. Warren certainly has a great space to indulge his passion for his heritage vehicles. Definitely a chip off the old block and bringing back memories of when Warren and his father came out together on one of our earlier runs some years ago. A big thank you to Warren for his hospitality and long may he continue restoring and sharing his wonderful heritage vehicle  collection.

Another Van Ride!

For those of us who have air cooled two strokes a bit of coolness in the air is always welcome. The previous nights rain signalled a passing front and a southerly change for the morning. Not to hot and not to cold! Upon fronting up to Manawatu Motorcycles in the morning on the mighty (thirsty!) KH250, it was pleasing to see a nice line up of not only two strokers, but a nice contingent of air heads as well. The decision was made to do the Apiti loop. For most motorcycling mortals this is an easy mornings ride, but for wrist happy middle aged KH250 with a tired top end owners, range becomes a critical concern. Naturally this terrain is mostly hilly with a wonderful twisty road. Not really conducive to getting the maximum range out of a tank.  The usual tactic is to make sure one leaves Ashhurst with a full tank, and then to fill up again in Feilding. One can stay within the 100km safe zone. For this run I made the decision to do try an 'economy run' and see what range I could get before the air to petrol ratio became close to 100 to 0, so my fill up at Main Street BP was going to have to be it. Kim our resident Kawasaki triple expert guesstimated Bunnythorpe would see her go on to reserve. So with his sound advice ringing in my ears we set off and Ian by default filled the role as our token four stroke for the morning on his GSX600F. The absence of smoke billowing out of his exhausts set him apart as we left the city limits for Ashhurst. Bruce had joined us from Levin on his RZ350, Sir Al had the Avenger out for a run, Dion was giving his NS400 its first run after the Hampton Downs ride, Rich on his T500, Kim on his H2a.
Road Captain Kim had set our first stop at the Camp Rangi Woods turnoff. It was a great run from the Raumai Bridge through to the turnoff with a few of us arriving ahead of the others. The reason for there tardiness became apparent with Kim informing us that Dions front valve stem had gone astray and he was lucky to stay upright. Ian and Dion joined us soon after with Dion on as a pillion and the NS parked up in a friendly farmers driveway ready for a pick up later. Our next port of call was Apiti and arrived there in no time at all. The road was in good nick and it looked as though the council had the road swept recently so we really enjoyed the run. We parked up at our usual spot at Gasoline Alley (That doesn't have any gasoline) and after a chat headed for our last stop at Hansens in Kimbolton. This is another good run with a mixture of open and tighter corners. Bruce and Sir Al had their 350s on song. After a snack and some refreshments it was downward run to home along the Kimbolton and Cheltenham straights. By this stage the KH hadn't gone onto reserve so I decided to miss the usual run into the North End BP in Feilding and headed off to Colyton with the rest of the troops. I managed to make it to within 1km of Bunnythorpe. Kims reputation is intact if not enhanced as the guru of all things triple! After punching a few numbers into the calculator it looked like just over 30 mpgs. It confirms the triples dual cooling method. Air and petrol.
It was a great ride and just the sort of thing Santa might do if he wasn't so busy at this time of the year.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!